Dec 23rd, 2008 · None of the actions involved high-profile individuals. The list included a posthumous pardon for Charles Winters, who aided the Jewish resistance in the 1940s and was convicted of violating the Neutrality Act.
Dec 17th, 2008 · Kemba Smith was sentenced to 24 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine — though she never handled the drug — because of mandatory sentencing laws. She was pardoned in 2000, and she urges President Bush to grant clemency to inmates with similar stories.
Dec 9th, 2008 · The Supreme Court has heard arguments in the case of a man convicted of murder in Tennessee. Gary Cone wants to reopen the conviction or at least the sentence of death because the prosecution allegedly hid evidence that supported his defense.
Dec 9th, 2008 · The Supreme Court hears arguments Tuesday in the case of a man convicted of murder in Tennessee. He wants to reopen the conviction or at least the sentence of death, because persecutors allegedly hid evidence that supported his defense. State courts have said he doesn't have the right to present those arguments.
Dec 3rd, 2008 · Are presidential pardons fair to the judges and juries who convict and sentence defendants? For more, Judge Lynn Toler — star of TV's Divorce Court — talks with NPR's Tony Cox.
Nov 25th, 2008 · The Bush administration has decided to allow Salim Ahmed Hamdan, convicted of aiding al-Qaida, to serve out the remainder of his sentence in his native Yemen. Tried before a military commission at Guantanamo Bay in August, Hamdan was sentenced to five and a half years, but with time served, had only four months to go.
Nov 25th, 2008 · The Bush administration is expected to send Osama bin Laden's driver home to Yemen. In August, Salim Hamdan was convicted of helping al-Qaida. He will complete his sentence next month with credit for time served. Hamdan is held at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and there was speculation that the U.S. would try to keep him there indefinitely.
Nov 12th, 2008 · Amitav Ghosh's sprawling historical novel is set on a former slave ship in 1838, and features a wildly diverse cast of characters and fluid, "beautifully made" sentences. Reviewer Alan Cheuse says Sea of Poppies is worth a passage.